It’s a “spicy oats” kick kinda week kids!  

For those of you who are newer and/or stopping by for the first time (HI!!!!) – Spicy Oats look way more delicious than this, when I can make it at home.  But when I need it to be portable – we end up with this orange hodge-podge (although – no worries – it is STILL equally delicious!) 

For lunch – I went simple and just packed the leftovers from last night’s dinner.   Except this time – I ate it cold (Hi, my name is Allison, and I’m a pasta salad addict.) 

Cold pasta + a little balsamic vinegar = pasta salad perfection!

Or does it?!?!?!

Once I started eating – I decided throwing in my leftover veggies from Saturday night was a good idea…

And of course I was right!  Am I ever wrong?  

I know more and more cities are adding “No texting while driving” laws – what do you think the laws are on “Taking pictures for your food blog while driving”? (no worries – I was actually stopped at a red light here!)  

I snacked on a No Bake PB Cookie (made from Tina’s recipe) while running from work to an off-site meeting!   Just as good as the batter I tested the night before!  

After my meeting, stopping home to feed Landy Lou, and running to Fitworks (gym) to consider a membership – I was off to Kathy’s house – my old boss from waitress-ing.  Every August, she has a party for friends & employees (or employees who have become friends in us “old timers” cases) – and the food and company are always amazing.  This year – did NOT disappoint!

All of the amazing food:

One of my favorites -  Taco Dip:   (If left unattended in front of this pan, I could have easily finished the ENTIRE thing) 

And my other favorite - Kathy’s homemade spinach dip (again – if left unattended in front of this – I could do bad, bad, bad things!) 

Here’s my plate of delicious goodies:

I took a little bit of everything – and went back up twice for more taco dip and spinach dip! I’ve got:

• pasta salad (I heart pasta salad so much – it’s EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK IN THE SUMMER – then I feel like it goes into hibernation in the winter!) 
• fruit salad
• spinach dip with bread
• taco dip with chips
• “Delicious Potatoes” (hidden under the pile)
• cheese (you can NEVER have enough cheese in my opinion) 

It’s funny – every summer Kathy invites all female restaurant employees (old and new) – and now all of us who started there 8 -12 years ago have totally become “old timers”! 

Here’s me, with 3 of my favorites:

We really had a great time! I did end up ordering some jewelry this time as well! I ordered the “First Lady” bracelet – and I can’t wait til it comes in.  I’m pretty sure I’m going to be planning my Foodbuzz Festival outfits around the jewelry, as opposed to picking out an outfit and then finding accessories!! 

Do you like?

Happy Hump Day!  

Today is flying by!  Yikes!

Last night I got my confirmation that I am pre-registered for the Foodbuzz Festival in November!!!!! I am so excited, I really truly hope everything works out!  I was also super excited to see (via Twitter of course) that I recognized so many of the people who tweeted that they were going as well!!!!!

Nothing like staring your week with a healthy dose of Spicy Oats (if I ever go MIA – it’s because I’ve run off and left Mike for Frank) 

Thanks to my shopping trips on Saturday (and Chandra’s generosity with her garden “extras”) – I had one BEAUTIFUL looking  salad for lunch:

Fresh tomatoes, cucumber, garden pepper, and canned banana peppers:

Topped with garlic hummus and balsamic vinegar and eaten “picnic” style outside! 

Thanks  to the Clean Life Challenge a few months ago – the combo of hummus and balsamic vinegar is officially my FAVORITE way to top a salad!

Afternoon snack:  Pink Lady, Naturally More & some stolen “community” pretzels:

For dinner, I had picked up all the ingredients for this recipe (and of course, had my own twist in mind).   Elbow Garlic White Bean “Dinner”

This turned out so beautifully, I just couldn’t stop taking pictures! 

Love! 

My modifications were the following:

• I didn’t cook the tomatoes (Mike and I both don’t like the consistency after they have been cooked)
• Added green onions on top
• Omitted S&P
• Added LOTS of red pepper flakes
• Used “elbows” instead of penne

Honestly – this was very tasty (although – Mike does prefer pasta sauce on pasta dishes) and super easy to make. Everything was completely ready in less than 15 minutes.

(Okay – well maybe a little more than 15 minutes because when I was trying to cook the garlic in the pan – I burned it the first time around.  But if you don’t screw up like I did – you could definitely be done in 15 minutes!) 

I cleaned up the whole kitchen, because I thought I was done for the evening, but as soon as I sat down and started to Google Read – I came across this moment of Tina’s pure brilliance – and literally hopped up off the couch and went straight to the kitchen! 

Here’s what I used:

• Tropical Traditions Coconut Flour
• Organic Raw Blue Agave
• Naturally More PB
• Quaker Oats

Why do the cookies look brown, you may ask? Ahh – do let me explain.  That’s where my delicious accident comes in.  Or should I say “delicious clumsiness”.  I’m not crazy about cinnamon, which Tina had suggested as an option to sprinkle on top of the cookies – but I thought – “HMMMMM – Maybe a sprinkle of cocoa powder might be nice?!”.

A sprinkle turned into about 1/8 of the cocoa container accidentally dumping into the bowl. 

I dumped out as much as I could so there was a SEMI-APPROPRIATE amount of cocoa powder left – and the end result – OH-MY-YUM!!!!!!!!!! 

Check out the recipe on Tina’s site yourself!  Super easy – and uber delicious!

Happy Tuesday!

I think I’m finally back in the groove!

This weekend, I just finally said “Hey – that’s it!  Snap out of it!”   I spent some time shopping for healthy foods, cleaning up & organizing the house, and hanging out with Mike and my family.  It’s funny how things can snowball once you get going.  It’s always that initial push that is the hardest! 

Also – I was really glad to hear so many of you SPEAK UP when you are getting charged the wrong thing!

Sunday I woke up, straightened up a few things around the house, worked on the blog – and then had some coffee while cuddling on the couch with Lando – how perfect is that?

Once my belly was ready for breakfast – I went with:  the last of the waffles (tear!) with a Pink Lady apple:

I really like how things look when they are “fanned” – whether it be food, deck of cards, you  name it.  Weird, I know! 

In the afternoon – I headed over to our family picnic at a park on the Lake!  Every year – my Mom’s entire side of the family gets together to catch up, visit, eat, and of course, play an old Italian favorite – BOCCE BALL!

I (of course!) went straight for the food – and loaded up with pasta salad and KFC’s new GRILLED chicken:

I have to say – the grilled chicken was really great!  Juicy, moist, and very flavorful!  It was a nice change from the old KFC! 

Here’s me, hanging with my brothers, and my Aunt Laura (my momma’s sister & also my godmother!):

Mike was doing law school things so he couldn’t come. 

After letting my food “settle” for about 30 minutes – I decided I could still fit more delicious pasta salad and other goodies in there! 

Plate 2:  Homemade caprese salad (garden fresh tomatoes & basil!!!), pasta salad, and roasted veggie salad!

3 of THE CUTEST teeny tiny Italians ladies around: 

My Grandma is on the left (LOVE HER TO PIECES!), then her sister Josie (can’t you see the resemblance?!), and their sister-in-law Fran.  Seriously – aren’t they the cutest?!  They couldn’t be nicer, either!  

Despite all the pasta salad – I still had some space left in my belly – and splurged on brownie:

I don’t really even dig sweets – but this.was.awesome! 

Here’s another group shot… (HELLO – ALLISON – WORK ON YOUR POSTURE!  EEK!)  I had a really nice time chatting with my mom’s cousins – especially Therese, who pretty much has the same view of food as I do – and her husband just started running!  We had plenty to talk about!! 

See that handsome devil on the left?  That’s my Grandpa! (yeah, I’m partial – so what!) 

By the time I got home, it was dinner time (but I certainly wasn’t hungry) – so I decided to get a head start on meal prep for the week (I told you – get that snowball going – and you.are.set!).  What would any meal prep be, without a little vino?!

It’s official – I finally like Cabernet! I was always a “white” girl – and then last winter, discovered I liked Merlot as well as Cab/Merlot blends.  But every time I tried Cab by itself – it just didn’t do it for me.  Well after trying that fabulous Cab from Chile at that Traveling Vineyards Wine Tasting – I’ve been much more open minded.  And while this bottle was only $5.99 – the flavor did not disappoint! 

I prepped all my oatmeal for the week, as well as my lunch for Monday.  I’ve been meaning to show you guys (since I get alot of questions about it) – the oatmeal that I use & swear by:

Trader Joe’s Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats.

These really are fabulous!  I love the taste, and they take between 7-10 minutes to make, depending on how you like your oats.

Not that Trader Joe’s needs any more free promotion from food bloggers – but I just wanted to pimp these out.  From the day I first tried them, I’ve been hooked, and never looked back!

Hope you are having a great start to your week!